THE PRINCE OF GOALKEEPERS
Thomson bravery the stuff of legend and now fans can honour a hero’s memory
Only clue who son may be is reference to ‘my dearest wee goalie’
SENT from a holiday home in Pitlochry on a Tuesday morning 86 years ago, the letter is perfectly preserved, the handwriting clear. A simple thankyou note on a sheet of A5 writing paper, the contents are unremarkable.
‘We received your letter card last night,’ wrote Jean Thomson. ‘Glad that you are well.
‘We are getting into the holiday feeling. Dad and I walked miles at times and feel fit. This is a wonderful place, the hills and the rocks seem never-ending.’
The only clue to who the son might be is a reference to ‘my dearest wee goalie’.
John Thomson was 22, the first-choice goalkeeper for Celtic and an established Scotland international.
His death from a depressed fracture of the skull and laceration of the brain following an unintentional clash with Rangers striker Sam English during an Old Firm league game at Ibrox on Saturday, September 5, 1931 remains one of Scottish football’s most tragic episodes.
Renowned for his bravery and fearlessness, Thomson was a young man with a big heart. A facet of his personality best illustrated by his mother’s note of thanks for a free holiday amidst the rolling hills of Perthshire.
‘But for my wee goalie we would not have had the chance to feast our eyes on these beauties of nature. I thank God for you my boy for the big heart He has given you and for the love that you have shown us, your folks.’
The emotion unleashed by Thomson’s premature death on a football pitch was remarkable. A crowd of 40,000 mourners attended his funeral in Cardenden, many walking the 55 miles from Glasgow to the Fife village where he was born and raised.
Images of Celtic manager Willie Maley serving as a pallbearer at the funeral and of the tragic tackle which killed him are amongst a number of items of memorabilia up for sale at Glasgow’s Great Western Auctions from 10am tomorrow.
In total, 18 precious artefacts from Thomson’s life will be put up for auction, including an 18carat gold medal from the Scots v Anglo Scots game of April 1927, a collection of 26 black and white photographs, an over-painted photograph of Thomson in a Scotland shirt and extracts relating to his birth and death.
The stand-out items are the letters. The thankyou from his mother and a partial letter from John to his parents.
Also for sale is a letter from Willie Maley, from Christmas 1941, where he makes clear his deep disillusionment with the Celtic board following his involuntary ‘retirement’ a year earlier.
‘PS,’ writes Maley, ‘I have never seen my beloved Celtic since I left them and never will whilst it is managed by the mob that run it now.’
David Convery, saleroom manager of Great Western Auctions, admits the sale of the Thomson items follows a trend making the sale of football memorabilia a multimillion pound business.
‘A member of John Thomson’s family have had this material for some time and have decided now to put it on the market.
‘There are so many poignant aspects to his story.
‘There were actually two victims of what happened that fateful day; Sam English of Rangers was never the same player again.
‘It was a totally unintentional clash and he was a slightly haunted man by what happened thereafter.
‘That John Thomson’s fatal injuries were sustained during a game against Rangers at Ibrox adds to the poignancy.’
With plans in place for a new Celtic Museum close to a new hotel at Parkhead, the Thomson items may yet find their way back to Glasgow’s east end.
A large number of items belonging to iconic Scots cyclist Graeme Obree will also come up for sale on Friday together with a timepiece belonging to Ernest Mangnall, the only man ever to manage Manchester United and Manchester City.
Taking place on the eve of the first Rangers-Celtic game of the season, the Thomson sale is expected to attract strong interest.
‘John Thomson was a goalkeeper going places,’ adds Convery. ‘He had already played for Scotland and won medals for Celtic.
‘Not for nothing was he known as the Prince of Goalkeepers.’
M Call 0141-954-1500 or email info@greatwesternauctions.com for auction details